Incredible Mag

5 Star Athletes Who Had To Walk Onto Their College Teams

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If you have ever had to live with a high school student who spent their whole junior varsity and varsity careers working towards that magic day when the college recruiters would spot them and offer the a full ride then you know the kind of pressure they put on themselves to excel&period; Unfortunately&comma; not all high school athletes are spotted by the traveling recruiters and why they should know that this does not need to signal the end&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">A great number of sports greats actually had to enter the game as a college walk on and a great number of those went on to be sports heroes&comma; star athletes in to pros&period; While no other college can match the record of Kansas State walk-ons in football&comma; literally every college in the country is open to new talent and would be foolish&comma; indeed&comma; not to follow Coach Snyder of Kansas State’s example&period; Here are just five star athletes who had to walk onto their college teams&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><img class&equals;"aligncenter wp-image-1885 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;incrediblemag&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;05&sol;Ben-Wallace&period;jpg" alt&equals;"5 Star Athletes Who Had To Walk Onto Their College Teams" width&equals;"549" height&equals;"337" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>NBA Great – Ben Wallace<&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Many of Ben’s greatest fans don’t know that Ben Wallace was being heavily courted &lpar;no pun intended&rpar; by football recruiters when he was in high school&period; However&comma; Ben was having no part of that since his first love was the court and he dreamed of basketball since he was a small boy&period; After refusing the scholarships in football&comma; he walked on at Cuyahoga Community College in Ohio&comma; near Cleveland&comma; and without sounding trite&comma; the rest is history&period; Fans stayed glued to their sets when Ben was on the court and satellite TV saw its largest NBA audiences on those nights&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>NFL Defensive End &&num;8211&semi; J&period;J&period; Wyatt<&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Many can’t believe that J&period;J&period; Wyatt was a former pizza delivery man who had to walk on to begin his career&period; Playing with the Houston Texans&comma; he was named Defensive Player of the Year and is exemplary of his own personal motto which says&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Dream Big&comma; Work Hard&period;” His dream was to play for the University of Wisconsin so after a stint at a community college he walked on at his dream school and played with everything in him&comma; getting noticed from the very start&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>NBA Legend – Scottie Pippen<&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If you have never heard of Scottie Pippen and profess to be a basketball fan&comma; you must be watching the alien league&excl; He didn’t even get an offer of a scholarship in high school so he elected to walk on to the courts of Central Arkansas University&period; Playing with Jordan all those years&comma; Pippen probably got his most notoriety from his antics on the court&period; Jordan may have gone on to be the Bulls legend&comma; but we all know he wouldn’t have gotten there without Pippen&period; That’s for sure&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>NFL Example of a Famous Kansas State Walk-on – Jordy Nelson<&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">After starting his college career as a walk-on for his beloved Kansas State&comma; he went on to be drafted by the Green Bay Packers&period; This is just one example of a Coach Snyder &OpenCurlyQuote;victory’ in choosing a player who opted to walk onto Snyder’s field instead of going for those scholarships offered him at other schools&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>Clay Matthews III – NFL Player with Appearances in Four Pro Bowl Games<&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Here is another player that dreamed of playing for his favorite university and when he didn’t get recruited he didn’t let that get him down&period; He walked on&comma; and played two years on the football scout team at the University of Southern California&comma; USC&period; Like his father before him&comma; he wanted to help bring his school to victory&period; Drafted in 2009 by the Green Bay Packers &lpar;like Jordy Nelson&excl;&rpar; Matthews has gone on to live his dream&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">So&comma; if you are looking to get recruited and don’t get noticed&comma; don’t lose hope and never lose sight of your dream&period; You can be a walk on and go on to the pros&comma; but you need to want it&period; Pursue your dream and you&comma; too&comma; can be a walk on that goes pro&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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